Rats given streptozotocin develop diabetes mellitus and a glomerulopathy characterized by mesangial thickening and deposition of immunoglubulins and complement. When implantation of pancreatic islets into diabetic rats achieves normoglycemia, the mesangial thickening and immune deposits may regress. In contrast to the extensive histopathological studies of the glomerulopathy attending streptozotocin-induced diabetes, there is a paucity of physiological data regarding the function of these diseased kidneys and their functional response to islet cell implantation. The objectives of our proposed research are two: (1) to study the pathophysiology of Streptozotocin-induced diabetic nephropathy in rats, focusing both on alterations in overall renal function and on alterations in the determinants of ultrafiltration kinetics and permselectivity properties of glomerular capillaries, and (2) to utilize this disease model of diabetic nephropathy for the study of end-organ responsiveness to the treatment of diabetes by islet cell implantation. Diabetes will be induced in the Munich strain of Wistar rats which have glomeruli on the renal cortical surface that are accessible to micropunctuue. The servo-null micropipet transducer technique will be utilized for direct measurement of the determinants of effective hydraulic permeability of the diseased glomerulus. In addition, the permselectivity of the glomerular capillary to varying sizes of macromolecules will be determined. The abnormalities in renal function and glomerular permeability will be re-examined after normoglycemia is achieved in these rats by means of islet cell transplantation. These studies will be accomplished using standard micropuncture techniques and clearance methods. Studies to date have demonstrated that rats given 50 mgKg streptozotocin develop glomerulopathy manifested by mesangial thickening and immune deposits, both of which improve after successful transplantation of cultured, adult syngeneic pancreatic islets. After a year of diabetes, these rats did not demonstrate impairment of whole kidney glomerular filtration rate or alterations in renal plasma flow. However, diabetic rats did exhibit an elevated filtration fraction and striking protenuria which decreased markedly after successful islet implantation.